The Wasteland
by AntiAvery
Summary: Two past settlers, Aurora and Adrean, are forced out of the Castle when a group of gunners attack. They now have to try and survive the dangers of the wasteland and Adrean promises to take revenge on the monsters who killed all his friends at The Castle.
1. Chapter 1

Adrean awoke from his rock hard bed as the overseer, Demetria , rang the breakfast bell. Adrean sat up as all the other settlers left the sleeping quarters and opened his locker at the foot of his bed to put on his favorite black jacket. he wentto Aurora's  
assigned bed. " Aurora," he said, " wake up". No answer. He didn't have time to deal with her. She would just lose some of her lunch time. Whatever. This happened almost every day to Adrean. Some days she would get up but others... Not eventhe  
emergency alarm could get her up. Today Adrean didn't feel like dealing with her so he just left the quarters and headed for the cafeteria. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night because he had over heard Demetria and the head of the settlementsecurity,  
Rory, talking about a group of nearby gunners who were most likely to attack and he had spent the whole night thinking about it. Adrean had lived in the settlement for almost 16 years and not ONCE was there an attack. Aurora had came to the settlement  
when she was about 4. She came with her dad who was the head of security before Rory. Her dad had later died in a raider attack trying to keep them from getting in to the armory. Adrean entered the cafeteria and, of course, most of

/the other people had already sat down and started eating. He grabbed a tray and went to see what the chef had cooked for today. " Breakfast: Roasted radroach meat, Lunch: roasted radroach meat, diner: roasted radroach meat!" He read angrily. " What  
/the devil?! The menu hasn't changed since last week!" Adrean grabbed a bottle of Nuka Cola Cherry, his favorite, and went to sit down at his table. About five minutes later Aurora showed up, walking into the cafeteria with the same old empty leather  
/bag strapped around her shoulder ,and the same old blonde curly hair, and the same old leather shirt, and the same old ragged muddy jeans. She grabbed a purified water and took a red plastic plate and came to sit next to Adrean. " Why do you have  
/a plate, Aurora? You didn't even grab anything to eat!" Adrean told her. She pulled out a sweet roll from her back pocket and raised it up to show him. " I bought it from the caravan that always comes through the settlement to drop off supplies,"  
/she explained. " OH MY DEVIL! YOU HAVE TO SPLIT IT WITH ME! I'LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING AURORA, ANYTHING!" Adrean begged. " anything?" Aurora asked as she smirked. " YES AURORA! I'LL EVEN LET YOU BORROW MY GROGNAK THE BARBARIAN COMIC!" He exclaimed. "  
/Borrow? I don't think that would be fair. I mean- you aren't BORROWING my sweet roll, are you? No. Your TAKING it." The sweet cinnamon smell rushed up Adreans nose. He would give ANYTHING to actually eat something delicious for once, but his favorite,  
/action packed, collector's edition comic? "Fine..." He sighed. " I'll give it to you at the end of today. Deal?" " Deal," Aurora agreed as she handed him half of her sweet roll.

After eating his sweet roll and finishing his Nuka Cola, Adrean and Aurora both headed out to work. They both were engineers for the settlement. Demetria had ordered them to make a " Drinking Buddy" protectron for the cafeteria so the settlers

would be more happy. The protectron would be shaped like a barrel with arms and legs and would hold ice cold Gwinnett Ale, Nuka Cola, or any drink that a settler wanted to freeze and at the same time would be protecting the settlers and making sure  
/they didn't violate the rules. It was a lot of work. It would most likely take all the engineers 2 more months or so to get done. Well... 2 months if Zeke, the laziest engineer, would actually work instead of asking people to " cover for him" while  
/he just snuck around were ever he wanted to go and did whatever he wanted to do. They walked into the workshop and were suprised to find out that they had beaten Hazel, the fourth engineer, to the workshop. " Huh. That's weird," Aurora said, " I  
didn't

/see Hazel in the cafeteria today and I thought she must have skipped breakfast to come here, but..." Usually Hazel was first to the workshop. " And Zeke isn't here either," Aurora said. " Well that's a surprise." Adrean said sarcastically. They came  
/to an agreement to wait and see if they showed up. Aurora wanted to go look for them but they couldn't waste anytime. They had to get the drinking buddy done for the overseer. About 15 minutes later Hazel or Zeke hadn't shown up when Demetria opened  
/the door to the workshop. " Has either one of you seen Zeke or Hazel anywhere?" Demetria asked. " If I can't find them soon enough I'll have to send out a security patrol to find them." She explained. Adrean got butterflies in his stomach. What if  
/they ran off? Or even worse...What if they were kidnapped- or even KILLED- by the gunners the overseer was talking about? " Nope," Aurora answered, " I haven't seen them since yesterday when we were all heading off for dinner." " Did they end up  
/coming to the cafeteria, " Demetria asked Aurora. " Actually- no, I don't remember seeing them," Aurora answered. " The last time I saw Hazel was when she said she was going to skip dinner and go on a walk with Zeke," Adrean said. Then he realized-  
/what if she meant OUT of the settlement walls? What if the gunners had killed Hazel and Zeke? " uh oh..." Demetria said under her breath, " I'll have to send out a security patrol...Ok well thanks. I'll be sure to keep and eye out for them" Demetria  
/said as she left the room. Adrean got a weird feeling. A feeling he had never felt before. Something bad was going to happen. Something that would change his life.


	2. The Attack

Aurora and Adrean had worked on the Drinking Buddy for about 2 hours when the emergency alarm began to ring. " That could only mean one thing," Adrean thought. The gunners were attacking. Adrean was standing there in shock. He had never practiced  
for an attack. He heard the workshop door slam shut as Aurora locked it so the gunners couldn't get in. Gunshots. Screams. " Aurora," Adrean yelled as she was standing against the door to block anyone from getting in. He grabbed her and ran to the  
back of the room and whent down the stairs into the armory. They weren't allowed in there but this was an emergency. " Wait-" Aurora complained, " What are yo-" Adrean shushed her. " We need to find a way out of the settlement. This isn't any ordinary  
group of gunners. The castle defenses wouldn't even allow them to take one step near this place. This is a big attack." He opened the doors to the armory. There was a lot of mist and glowing fungus everywhere and the ceiling was dripping. They could  
hear the rush of footsteps. There was a loud beat that sounded like metal on ground. " They even have power armor" Aurora said in fear. Still holding Aurora by the hand, Adrean rushed through a tunnel that a mirelurk had made when Demetria and the  
Minutemen had first taken over the castle. When he ran in he had hoped that it lead to somewhere outside. He didn't have time to think, he just needed to get Aurora to safety. It seemed like ages that they were rushing down the tunnel. It was getting  
darker and darker and darker. But there was no more screams or noises. Before they left Aurora was smart enough to grab a combat knife and a pipe rifle from the armory and eventually they stopped. " There's probaly land above us now, but how the devil  
are we gonna get up there," Adrean pulled out the knife and handed it to him. " here. Maybe we could try and dig out with this," she explained. " The layer of dirt above us shouldn't be too thick and using a knife is better than getting  
our hands dirty." " Ok. I'll give it a try," Adrean said. He stabbed at the roof above them (hoping that the ceiling wouldn't collapse) about 4 or 5 times when Aurora and Adrean began to see light. He quickly scooped out a hole big enough to climb  
through above them. He bent down on one knee and put his hands out. " Here," Adrean told Aurora, " I'll boost you up." " Ok," Aurora said, " Just make sure not to let me fall in the mud." He boosted Aurora up above the roof of the tunnel and then  
looked down the way they were going. He thought he heard a slight scuttling noise but he ignored it and thought instead " How long is this thing?" " Hey! Adrean," Aurora yelled down the tunnel, " When are you gonna get up here idiot!" He heard her  
voice echo down the hallway and thought he heard the noise again except closer this time. He turned where the noise was coming from and a huge, moss covered, wet figure emerged from the shadows. " Mirelurk...," he said quietly to Aurora, hoping she  
could hear him and wouldn't yell again. " What are you mumbling?" She asked. " just grab my hand already! My arm is getting tired!" " MIRELURK," Adrean said loudly, grabbing her hand. She pulled him up, " mirelurk?" She asked, " Don't tell me you  
dragged me into a mirelurk cave!" He yelled " RUN," as the creature jumped out from the tunnel causing the ground to shake. He knew it would do that. His mom had told him stories about mirelurks out in the wasteland before she had died. Adrean and  
Aurora where definitely far away from the castle. When he jumped and looked behind him he noticed it was about a mile away. Aurora was running out of energy. They both couldn't just run from it all day! " Adrean!" She screamed his name. He looked  
at her, " We need to either fight this thing or find a place to hide from it and I'm pretty sure there's no shelter around here for miles. So what's it gonna be?" She pulled out her gun and looked at him as they ran. He stopped, turned around, and  
said, " Fight!" 'Alright!' Aurora thought. Adrean unsheathed his knife and Aurora loaded her gun. The mirlurk was more green than gray, as most mirelurks were. That meant it was softshelled. Easiest to kill. Adrean ran at it and slashed at its face.  
He aimed for the eye but he missed, knowing that he had never practiced. Aurora was shooting at its stomach, the weak spot. She didn't have much practice either but she was still doing better than Adrean. The mirelurk attacked and caught Adrean off  
guard. It slashed its claws across his chest leaving a stinging pain. He put his left hand around the cut and threw the knife at the mirelurk as fast as he could. Aurora had managed to shoot it a few more times in the face and stomach while he was  
getting beat up. Aurora watched as Adreans knife spun in the air heading right for the mirelurk. Time seemed to slow down. The knife landed straight in the chest of the creature and it let out a horrible shriek as it fell to the ground Along with  
Adrean.


	3. Welcome To The Wastes

Aurora leaned over Adrean yelling his name. She shook him around a few times but he didn't wake up. She was begging to worry. The cut that the mirelurk had made in his chest was pretty deep. She put her head on his chest to check for his  
heart beat. She heard a quiet " thump...thump." Thank god. He was alive! She needed something to stop the bleeding. Adreans blood had begun to start soaking into his black jacket. Aurora remembered now. She had a roll of bandages in her bag. She pulled  
them out and took off his shirt. She began to wrap the bandages around Adrean's wound. Once she was done she put his jacket and shirt back on and looked around herself. All her life she had been used to living in the settlement doing work and having  
food served to her. Now they had to get their own food. The sky was a dim grey with many clouds in it. The ground had no grass. Just a few brown sports here and there on the tanish dirt. There were few trees stripped of their leaves around them. This  
was were they were living now. Auroras whole life has changed in only a few minutes. Adrean was the only person she had now. All of their friends were most likely dead now or out far, far away from them in the wasteland. She heard a moan. Adrean began  
to move around. " Aurora?" He said with a hoarse voice, his left hand around his wound and his right boosting him up. " Where did you get these bandages from?" He asked her. " My bag idiot," she answered." I thought you didn't carry anything in that  
thing." "What did you think I do with it then? Just carry it around for looks?" Aurora asked. " Yea actually." Adrean said, feeling stupid. She noticed he was trying to stand up. " You need some help idiot?" She asked. He didn't answer, but instead  
grabbed her hand and allowed Aurora to help him off the ground. He seemed able to walk on his own. Adrean looked around him and saw what the wasteland looked like. There was the castle in the distance and a small wooden shelter to the east. " This  
is our home now I guess" Aurora said. " Yea..." Adrean replied. Aurora and Adrean both began to feel hungry. They had no idea were to find food and the two didn't have anything to cook the mirelurk they killed with. After a bit of talking they decided  
to check out the castle. It wasn't too far away. Less than a mile. And niether Aurora or Adrean could hear gunshots or screaming. They both knew the castle had plenty of food in it. If the gunners raided the castle then there was still the armory.  
Adrean had made sure to lock the heavy, steel doors before they left. Aurora and Adrean began walking. It took only about 10 minutes to get there. It would've been less if Adrean could walk properly. When the two made it there, they quietly opened  
the front gate. They both stood there in horror. Everyone was dead. Demetria, Rory, even the castle pet, sparky the dog. It was quiet. No one was speaking. " What kind of monster would do this," Adrean said angrily on the Borge of tears. He held them  
back. It always made him feel weak when he cried. " The Wasteland." Aurora responded. When they recovered from shock Aurora and Adrean began to walk into the castle. Adrean plopped down next to Demetria's dead body. She had comforted him when his  
mother had died and started this whole settlement for lost, starving people out there. And someone had destroyed it. He noticed the gunners hadn't looted Demetria of her pip-boy. He removed it off her arm. He took it half because he wanted something  
to remember her by and half because he had always wanted one. " Adrean!" Aurora yelled across the castle. " come see this! The gunners didn't even BOTHER to raid the kitchen!" " Ok. One second" he said. He sat there looking around at all his dead  
friends. He made a promise to himself at that moment. He promised that he would get revenge on whoever did this, if it was the last thing he did.


	4. Surviving

" Wow," Adrean exclaimed. The stupid gunners hadn't even opened the doors to the cafeteria. All the food was still there. The roasted radroach meat, the whole pantry. Aurora or Adrean had never been allowed to go into the pantry. They were

forced to eat whatever was on he menu. But now they could have whatever they wanted. " Oh my devil..." Adrean said. " They even have sweet rolls in here." They both grabbed whatever they could fit in Aurora's bag. Tatos, Mutfruits, Sweetrolls, and  
/even more. They decided to look around for some armor or extra clothes. They couldn't open the armory since they locked it before they left. The workshop DID have an armor and a weapon workbench though. They were made for anyone with no experience.  
It

allowed them to easily craft weapons and armor if you had the right materials. " Hey Aurora," Adrean called, " We could craft some armor and weapons if we get some junk together." "Good idea," she replied. " Now help me find some stuff." They began  
/looking for materials and after a while they had gathered a makeshift battery, a lot of Brahmin leather, an advanced targeting card from a broken turret, some copper, and a ton of steel and wood. They brought it all to the workbenches and tried to  
/see what they could make. Aurora took the armor workbench while Adrean took the weapon one. Adrean managed to quickly make an automatic pipe rifle while Aurora used everything else to make a metal left arm, leather chest piece, leather right leg,  
/and a metal right arm. Adrean took the leather chest piece and the metal right arm. They decided he got the chest piece to help him recover from the mirelurk. By now he felt fine but Aurora didn't want anything make the wound worse. Aurora took what  
/was left. The leather right arm and the metal left arm. By then it was getting late. They checked the old sleeping quarters but the beds all had bullet holes in the mattresses and were stripped of their sheets and blankets. Some beds were just metal  
/frames with no mattress. They realized that the small wooden house they saw would most likely have beds in better conditions there. Plus the gunners could come back. They headed back out in the direction that they saw the shack. After an hour they  
/reached the shack. Aurora was right. There was two small, clean beds with blue and white striped blankets. There was also a mid-sized shelf with three bottles of purified water and a pack of fancy lady snack cakes. Aurora took a bottle of water and  
/opened it as she plopped on the bed. Adrean's wound had started to sting again so he limped over to the bed and lay down on it. It was definitely more comfortable than the ones at the settlement and he fell asleep immediately. When sleep came, at  
/first he was grateful. But then the nightmares came.


	5. The Dreams

Adrean was in the castle again. There was no person or body anywhere in sight. Then suddenly all of his old friends appeared. " Why did you let us die Adrean-" " You abandoned us-" " You're a monster-". " Wait- I- I- didn't mean to!" Adrean said  
trying to defend himself. He tried to say something again but when he spoke nothing came out. He couldn't move. " YOU MONSTER!" They screamed as they all melted into a pile of blood and flesh then sunk into the ground. There was a loud " BOOM " and Everythibg  
turned black. He was in the middle of no where. He tried to scream again but nothing came out of his mouth. " Adrean! Adrean get up! I'm right here" a familiar voice called. He jumped up off the bed with Aurora standing over him. He had a cold sweat.  
" You were having anightmare." She explained to him. " Was it really my fault?" Adrean asked Aurora, " I really abandoned them. I could have-" Auroura cut him off. " It wasn't your fault! We couldn't have done anything to help them, Adrean. Don't  
blame it on yourself."  
" Yeah...Ok" he said. " I'll make breakfast." Aurora said. She grabbed a small, raw, mirelurk egg from her bag. The shack they had set up camp in had a camp fireoutside and on one of the shelves Auroura had found a rusted pan. She whent outside  
near the fire and cracked the egg into the pan and held it over the fire while shaking the pan around. Her dad taught her how to cook mirelurk eggs when she used to live in a wooden house at about age 4. Adrean got off the bed after recovering from  
shock. He still couldn't get the picture of all his friends sinking into the ground out of his head. He put his armor on and put his gun into the pocket of his leather pants. Aurora walked in with a big, scrambled mirelurk egg on a pan. When  
they both finished eating Aurora said, " Now what?" " What do you mean 'Now What'?" Adrean asked, confused. " I _mean,_ now where do we go? What do we do? We can't just stay here." Aurora explained. " Well," Adrean sighed, " I guess we just explore.  
Continue to survive. Maybe find some new friends." " Well I guess that's better than just sitting here," Aurora said. So they grabbed their stuff and headed out into the waste, not knowing what dangerous thing would happen next.


End file.
